Soundtrack of Shanghai:
Travis
Kean
Radiohead
Liveablitity score (worse 1-5 best)
Sustainability: 4
Sociodiversity: 2
Public transport: 5
Creative Index: 3
Shanghai @ October 2010
The issue with the verticality
Not just the architectural verticality of the town is, as a matter of fact, Shanhghai's main urbanity marker. But the will to build into the sky in despite of having enough space in horizontal dimension. The ambition for a condensed structure, the affinity for a dense spacial order is the main discursive dispositiv of Shanghai's past and, strongly promoted and argued in last two decades, the today practice of urban planning and project realization.
The claimed "greenness" is clearly a statistical technique, showing the green surfaces of the city more prominent on maps and explicitly in scientific and promotional texts.
Shanghai @ October 2010
Bar Rouge at BUND (number 18) is the hell of a club. A breathtaking, relaxing scenery of urban landscape from the huge balcony. Reflecting itself at Pudong's jungle of skyscrapers, tranquilizing in a flow of lights and games and ads on their facades. It is the name for tension, A superficial tension of lost bodies, a deep tension of found souls. Bar Rouge is long lasting one, the persistence of highly professional madames and highly disoriented messieurs under the pressure of striking beats of the DJ. Everyone wants to give the last thing he/she seems to get: passion, forgiveness, money, high heels, eyes and the self.
In Zeiten des Verrates sind die Landschaften schoen (wie immer HM)
Shanghai @ October 2010
Who was speacking about totalitarianism?
Shanghai @ October 2010
Money is beautiful.
Shanghai @ October 2010
Greed is good.
Shanghai @ October 2010
Das "Unheimliche" and envisioning the possible present
Driving down the motorway from the airport to the downtown of Shanghai, a Chinese "chanson sentimental" on your ears, coming from the car radio, with it accompanying cordially singing driver, it comes to the first dilemma. Where am I arriving? Shanghai, the always-been metropolis of 20th century, an asylum for Europeans, escaping Europe just before the two wars (the very European genocides, 1914-1918 and 1939-1945), this place of the cosmopolitan gangsters and local and international crime heroes, of best of American and European cabaret culture and often visited by Charlie Chaplin? The place of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen in the lovely house in French concession, and the first Chinese communist party founded in the same area 1921? Or the place of opium, prostitution, smuggle, and perverse British officers and noble Men, who actually made and enforce opium trafficking, widespread prostitution and royal - from London- allowed smuggle possible?
However, it could be, while driving the motorway down, in a constant velocity, and listening to the same Chinese "chanson sentimental" in radio, another different place. It could be, that Shanghai is the conglomeration of anything we are able to imagine and fantasize for the term FUTURE. For what reason ever, the top of any high rise building on the way down to the city, and they are many of them on both sides of the motorway, is full of light. They seem to salute visitors and to convince them from the monolith power they radiate, or it is just an action of municipal administration during "Expo 2010", which is occuring right now. Driving down from the two time elevated streets into the city, there is an highly densed accumulation of skyscrapers in any direction and dimension. Anything else is in first instance not visibel. Glimmering high rise builldings determine the picture.
The city is a picture itself. And fresh wind.
Shanghai: The immensity of economic power, the repulsion of any utopia, the density of buildings and houses, the obsession of bodies, and finally, the irreducible convergence of capital, ambitions and fantasy makes Shanghai to a "especial cultural zone". Shanghai is not a lab, as it has been declared Shenzhen to be one, it is just the future of urban option, it is the impossibility, which get NOW possible.
Shanghai has got no references within the framework of urban theoretician machinery, it has even no link to the histories and stories, which we used to read in reportages. It is solely "the making of" the future by means of a auto-referential system of politic codes, juristic contracts, sharp narrative framework, neonlight signs, urbanistic declarations, cash flows and the endless streams of human capital.
It is quite and rainy. The omnipresence of high rise buildings radiates an informal silence. Shanghai at early afternoon is more meditative than rush place. I took the bus from central city, without knowing where it is going. We transpass the inner Circle of districts, reaching some outer areas, where I got off. The town is changing its face while increasing distance from the "center" . It' s getting less dense and more spacious on streets and in-between. I changed the bus after 45 minutes of ride, in order to change the direction within the town. Taking a bus during afternoon in big cities has got two effects: first, coming around in non-planned routes and areas of the town, thus exploring without any guidance; second, a sort of meditation during the ride, which allows me to think and reflect on some issues of daily life at home, good one and not- good one. Anyhow, the meditative effects seem to be superior at same stage.
At the end of Moamin Lu, at the corner to Nanjing Lu in central Shanghai, there is a UniQlo shop, the primarily distinguished Japanese brand of other days, which is now expanding through Asia, especially China, and partly Europe and USA. Known for a laconic and simple statement of garments and products, thus a good address for affordable cloths in good Japanese quality with innovative materials and contemporary design. The presentation, giving in where the main local store happens to be, is a different one: three stores with the complete program, but adapted to Chinese customs and expectations. The German word "Ramsch" ( bargain !?) fits for the most products. Too much of everything, to much of hybrid and mix colors, too much of shining materials, too much of fluffy softy stuff, best placed in flea markets of the city.The specials, designed by Jil Sander for UniQlo are almost neglected.
Shenzhen @ October 2010
Postcommunist Puritanism and Artificial Lives
Coming with the tube from the Hong Kong border, you see nothing from the surface than the clean subway stations. Going upstairs, huge clean shining halls of the station, which is a mall, an hotel, administration and a railway station at same time, why not. Red flags on golden walls and surfaces, men and women in service uniforms opening doors, where am I?
This town, the "retort baby" of former and almost sacrosanct chairman Deng Xiaopeng, represents herself as a perfect geometry. It is the perfect geometry, build by all-China modern time slaves, aka working class, between 1980 and yesterday. He had called them and they came and they have build the holy "New Jack City" out of a minor fisherman' village, which it was till end of 1970ties. Shenzhen is the new place.
Riding a cab on streets of Shenzhen under the mild sun of October, no wind at all, reminds you "the best case scenario" of some artificial cities in USA. The "special economic zone" has been designed for a test procedure of consultant team surrounding the eternal second Chairman Deng Xiaoping. They had the idea of producing a CITY, against the time, which always will be different than expected, and against the space, which was at these times just the absolute emptiness beyond frontiers of Hong Kong in Gunagdong province. The idea implied the production of a CITY against all predictions of history in the West and despite of materialistic historicism of the own party hardliners.
Now, 2010, we have the CITY.
There is a almost weired meta-physical, and hopefully not cultural, connectivity between the Shenzhen, as it is new format of living and it was a concept of political economy of CPC, and re-created holy cities in the USA. Remember Salt Lake City? Or..................
Boulevards of Shenzhen, which are in most cases grand boulevards and not merely streets, are the absolute contrary of those we know from Moscow or New York, they like more Drives of Salt Lake City. While New York was build by indigenous natives with no fear from sky and clouds, in terms of playing at the heights of skyscrapers, and while Moscow was an idea of protection against the cold eastern wind and Tatars, Shenzhen is the CITY as a superficial and gliding program, there is no real code beyond it, no conspiracy, no hope, no enemies, no lovers, no refugees, no heroes, and finally no past. Nobody gave his live for this town ever, nobody has buried deaths and their memories under this earth. It is just a concept. You remember the Mormon program for Salt Lake City, the town build out of Nothingness of the desert and sky and nostalgia. What makes it unique, are lines and geometric forms, which beginn and end in absolute symmetry: pompous, sterile, flawless.
While Salt Lake City, dormant on a salt desert, reinvented Jesus Christ as a copy of Bjorn Borg, and it shines in the clarity and light of the pure believe on him. That makes Salt Lake City to a model of internalisation and of abstraction of believe, the perfect puritan place of salvation: religion as special effects. And Shenzhen, it is the lab of post- communist future phantasmagories, led by communists: flat, clear, unguilty, and NEW. There is No Mao there. His copy, which had certainly trancendet him by terms of Realpolitik, Deng, is standing as a statue alone and proud in a park, with a distance with other requisites of revolution, thus salvation. Shenzhen is a model of externalisation and of deletion of believe, the perfect communist inception of the possibel real: utopia as special effect. There is no past to grief, there is no presence to enjoy, at least for the residents emigrating from all over China. They dream in a not-real- time acceleration of richness, of golden bathrooms, fishes in living room, clean subway and blue sky, who does'nt? In this conglomeration of dreamers and dreams, Shenzhen is well prepared even for "Albträume". Buildings, high as it is possible, are filling the space above the earth smoothly and in a irreversible monotony. Anything out and in them is made out of steel and glas. The very idea of modernity of architecture of last century. In order to make the unavoidable verticality of skyscrpaers bearable they put as much kitsch as doable into the internal surfaces. Big hotels are shining in the the dust of gold, and their lobbies like antique palaces, which never have existed.
